I just received in the mail the book The Dream Manager(Matthew Kelly).It was recommended to me by a new friend about a week ago. Here’s an excerpt from the very beginning of the book:

“A company’s purpose is to become the-best-version-of-itself. The next question is: What is an employee’s purpose? Most would say, ‘to help the company achieve its purpose,’ but they would be wrong. That is certainly part of an employee’s role, but an employee’s primary purpose is to become the-best-version-of-himself or herself…

The company exists for people. When a company forgets that it exists to serve its customers, it quickly goes out of business. Our employees are our first customers, and our most influential customers.

A person’s purpose is to become the-best-version-of-himself or herself.”

I’m looking forward to diving deeper into this book. Thank you, Scott Druhot, for the recommendation!

Update: I just finished this book during my lunch! Wow! I will be implementing these ideas with my leadership team soon! You need to read this book!

Like this:

I’ve been working on a little project here at work. I lead 4 different, unique divisions. We are all on the same floor. There is a lot of collaboration between the teams. But I discovered something. The team still doesn’t always know what the team (overall) does.

So I addressed it.

With the help of my leadership team, I created a document (12 pages long) that highlights each of my divisions, the work they do, and the up-to-date results they are getting. In each of their sections, I also shared the company awards they’ve received over the past couple of years (it’s always good to be reminded of this!). Each team member was listed and all of their photos were included.

Teams can do the work day in and day out. We all are busy. My team is full of flawed, human beings – myself included! We are not perfect. But we do a lot to move our company forward. We work hard to serve our customers (members) to our best ability. We care about each other inside and outside of work.

I created this document to be sure my team understands all that goes on. I want them to appreciate their own efforts and results. I want them to appreciate the efforts of those working on the other side of the room. Together, we are making a positive impact.

I challenge you to do something similar with your team. This exercise helped me focus on the positive strengths this team has. I think it will help my team focus on that, too.

Like this:

In his new book, High Performance Habits, Brendon Burchard speaks about seeking clarity in Habit 1. I shared this exercise with my Emerging Leader group yesterday. I thought you might like to read this as well:

Describe (write it down) how you’ve perceived yourself in the following situations over the past several months – with your significant other, at work, with the kids or your team, in social situations with strangers.

Now ask, “Is that who I really see myself being in the future?” How would my future self look, feel, and behave differently in those situations? (note: think about how your future self would want to interact in ways that you would be proud of)

If you could describe yourself in just 3 aspirational words – words that would sum up who you are at your best in the future– what would those words be? Why are those words meaningful to you? Once you find your words, put them in your phone as an alarm label that goes off several times per day.

I worked through this exercise myself. I jotted down several things and finally landed on my 3 aspirational words. I created a calendar event that displays these 3 words at 5:45 am, 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm every day.

Already, there are many times when I see those words and I am reminded to be my best and do my best to act out on these words. It works. What a great reminder.

Try it. In fact, order the book and start working your own high performance habits (link to the book is provided above). Begin working on becoming better. You will not regret it.

I shared some of these thoughts with someone just a moment again via email. I thought I would share this with you.

Are you the CEO, VP, Director, Manager, etc. on your team? If so, your team needs something from you. If you are in a team meeting, departmental meeting or all-company affair, don’t discount your impact in those moments.

I’m sure you know this is a plumb bob. It is used to insure accuracy in construction. A carpenter’s eye can deceive him. But a plumb bob cannot be “off”. The weight and gravity work in accordance with laws of physics. The plumb bob always shows what is in line/accurate.

Your team does not intend to ever “get off” the line (expectations) in their daily work. But it happens. Life events push in on them. Relationships in the office can become strained. We all can have bad days. Sometimes, a customer can be a jerk.

Our teams get off-kilter.

When you have your time in front of your team, it is a perfect time to help them re-calibrate. To hear and see the vision again. This is their plumb bob. And you get to hold the string.

You believe in your company’s vision/mission. Like it or not, your team looks to you at these key events to hold the string, remind them of their “calling”, spray a little Windex on the vision, and point all of your team’s ships in the same direction.

Be great at this.

That’s what your team needs from you. To be your best self. Your team all loves that, wants that, and needs that.

Like this:

In a little over an hour, my leadership team and I will gather in a room to start a brainstorming session. We’re going to talk about how we can become better/do better. But instead of talking about ethereal topics, we’re going to put a timeline on our path to improvement. We’re going to get specific on how we plan to improve. We’re going to own our journey and our results.

Last week, we all attended the Global Leadership Summit (#gls17, #fwgls) here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We were exposed to a lot of great content. It’s time to put that content to work for us. Today’s brainstorming session will kick-off this process.

Shock Test? Yes. We’re going to discuss what we would do/be differently when a deadline is applied to something we are expected to provide every day. More on this later…

Like this:

I attended a meeting a week or so ago on mentoring. At this meeting, several people shared about mentoring from different points of view. One of the speakers was a young man, Brad Thomas. He shared how being mentoring has changed his perspective and life. His presentation was outstanding.

He shared that he believed a great mentor does 4 things for their “mentee”. Here is it:

So, leaders, are you a mentor? If not, find someone today! Our company promotes this and many of us are actively mentoring. When you get this privilege, don’t forget Brad’s words:

Expand – a great mentor will expand someone’s world-view. They will expand knowledge and help point to resources.

Engage – a great mentor will cause the “mentee” to think and act.

Encourage – a great mentor will build up the “mentee” and help them build on their strengths.

Empower – a great mentor will reveal to the “mentee” that they have power to act and make an impact.

Make the investment to pour yourself into the life of another. It is so worth it!